Gas-engine



4 SheetsSheet I.

(No Model.)

0. W. BALDWIN.

GAS ENGINE.

N0. 32 379. a Patented Sept. 1, 1886.,

@ 204? fZ-M i N. PETERS. PbotwUl'ncgnphu, Wuhiniinn, D. I;

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. W. BALDWIN.

0N0 Model.)

GAS ENGINE.

m Hi 5 N PEIERS, PnmmM m r-u. Wasbinglm. ac

4 SheetsSheet 3.

(No Model.) U. W. BALDWIN.

GAS ENGINE.

No. 325,379. Patented Sept. 1, 1885.

2K fli'lfil (No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4. C. W. BALDWIN.

GAS ENGINE.

Patented Sept. 1, 1885.

1 a LMMIPWVHLW/ 3 m T g Invazzzazr [I Z:

d MW/Mw/ UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcE,

CYRUS .V: BALDIVIN, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO \VILLIAM E. HALE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No. 325,379, dated September 1, 1885-.

Application filed April 2, 1885.

T0 (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GYRUs W. BALDWIN, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Yonkers, in the county of Nestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of engines in which the motor force results from the explosion of a mixture of gasand air admitted to the powercylinder; and my invention consists in means, hereinafter fully set forth, of supplying charges of varying volumes, but of uniform quality, to the power-cylinder according to the work to be done by the engine; also, in means for regulating the supply of gas and air to the reservoir according to the work to be done; in means for thoroughly mixing the gas and air in the reservoir, and in means for maintaining the cylinder cool with'a comparatively small volume of water.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of sufficient of a gasengine to illustrate my improvements. Fig. 2 is a rear end view in part section. Fig. 3 is a plan view; Fig. 4, a section on the line 1 2, Fig. 3.

The cylinder A of the engine is provided with a surrounding water-space, as usual, and with a hollow rear head, A, through which the water also flows, and with a forward head, A, through which extends the rode of the power-piston B, which rod is connected to the crank of the driving-shaft A by means of the connecting-rod A, the whole being supported upon a hollow bed, A The cylinder is provided with an inletport, m, at the rear end, with adeflecting-plate, a, in front of said port, and with an exhaust-port, 3 near the opposite end, arranged to be covered by the piston and by a wing, f, thereof as set forth in the Letters Patentgranted to me November 6, 1883, No. 287,897. If desired, however, the exhaust port may be controlled by a valve operated positively in any suitable manner. Any suitable igniting device may be used, an electrical igniter being shown, with its electrodes in a channel, to, communicating with the port a".

The forward end of the power-cylinder, in connection with the piston 13, constitutes a pump, by means of which gas and air are drawn through a port, 8, into the cylinder by the backward movement of the piston, which forces the mixture upon its forward movement- (No model.)

through the portinto a reservoir,'X, the latter being contained partly within a casing, a", partly in a casing, a, and partly in a pipe, a forming a communication between the casing to and the casing a. A valve, I, fitted to a seat in the passage W, controls the How of mixture from the reservoir to the passage, and is provided with a stem extending through a packed opening in the casing a, and encircled by a spring, t, which may be compressed be tween a stationary bearing-face and a nut, a, adjustable upon the threaded end of the valve stem. hen the piston B moves backward, it draws the gas and air into the casing a,

through an opening or port, S, and when the piston moves forward it forces the mixture from the power-cylinder through the passage 8 into and compresses it in the reservoir, and

' when the exhaust is opened and the pressure in the power-cylinder is diminished, the superior pressure in the reservoir causes the valve I to rise and a volume of the mixture to pass into the cylinder, within which it is compressed by the backward movement of the piston, and within which it is exploded when the piston reaches the limit of its backward movement, the expansion of the gases then driving the piston forward. As the piston moves ,back an additional quantity of gas and air is drawn into the reservoir and is compressed therein by the forward movement of the piston, as before. It will be seen that the inletport 8 is placed at a distance from the. valve I, and I make this distance as great as prac ticable, so as to increase the time occupied by the mixture in traveling from the inlet to the outlet port of the reservoir, for I have found that the force of the explosive mixture depends to a great extent upon the intimacy with which the gas and air are mixed together, and this intimate admixture can be best effected by allowing them to remain in contactfor a considerable length of time rather than by mechanical means alone. As, however, the stirring or working of the gases will aid in insuring their intimate admixture, the pump communicates with the reservoir at a point between the inlet 8 and valve I, so that the mixture is drawn first through one part of the reservoir and into the working-cylinder, and then forced from the workingcylinder again into the reservoir, the gases being thereby worked or churned together; and the rescrvoir X is made of greater capacity than the pump, so that the air and gas drawn in at each backward movement of the piston, will be mixed with the mixture already in the reservoir. Each new charge admitted to the working-cylinder,therefore,will consist more or less of gases which have been within the reservoir foraconsiderablelength of time. This result, it is apparent,cannot be obtained in that class of engines where the gas and air are drawn into a pump and completely expelled therefrom into the cylinder prior to taking in anew charge.

It will be apparent that the reservoir may be incloscd within a casing wholly separate from the power-cylinder, and that a pump separate from the'power piston and cylinder may be employed with the same effect, as above set forth.

It is common in gas engines to regulate the speed or power by regulating the proportion of gas combined with the air in the charge, which has been found to be extremely Wasteful; and in Letters Patent No. 276,748, granted to me May 1, 1883, Ihave described a mode of regulating the engine by regulating the volume of the charge, while always preserving the same proportions of the air and gas, so that,whatever may be the volume of the charge exploded in the main cylinder, the mixture-exploded is always of the most effective character. In the engine described in the said Letters Patent the governor controls the amount of mixture expelled by the pump directly into the power-cylinder; but I prefer to regulate thevolume ot' the charge by varying the pressure in the reservoir, which may be done by governing the amount of air and gas admitted into the reservoir, while at all times preserving the relative proportions of the air and gas in the mixture. Thus, if the engine is moving too rapidly,and the governor cuts off the flow of the mixed gases through the port 8 into the reservoir, there will be less pressure in the said reservoir, and the valve I will consequently be lifted to a less extent when the exhaustport is opened and the charge admitted to the power-cylinder is re- .duced, with a consequent reduction in the speed, while, should the engine operate too slowly, the governor will permit the gases to flow more freely into the reservoir, so that the pump will take in a larger quantity at each stroke, the pressure within the reservoir will be increased, and the Valve lifted'to a greater extent upon the opening of the ex- 'ure.

liaust, and with a consequent increase in the volume of the charge and a greater effect upon the explosion thereof.

As one means of controlling the flow of the gas and air to the reservoir while preserving their proper proportions, I have illustrated a valve and casing in connection with the gaspipe q. air-inlet p, and pipe S, communicating with the ports, and provided with a checkvalve (not shown) closing against back-press- The air and gas are supplied tothe casing B through the air-inletp and gas-pipe q. the latter communicating with a peripheral annular passage, 0", within the casing, and the pipe S communicating with a port, ic, in the casing It. Within the casing slides the valve T, which is a hollow cylinder closed at one end, and provided with a perforation or port, u, and with a series of perforations or ports, 2;, arranged diagonally, as shown, and in such relation to the port a, that when the latter corresponds with the port t, all of the ports 1; will correspond with the passage r. This is the position to which the valve is adjusted when a full supply of gas and air is required. When the speed of the engine increases, and it is necessary to reduce the charge, the port a is carried across the port it, and some of the ports a are carried from the passage r, so that the supply both of air and gas to the reservoir is diminished. The area of the port a shouldbe larger than the combined areas of the ports 22 just in proportion as the amount of air to be supplied is to be larger than that of the gas, and the arrangement and proportions of the ports and passages should be such that the same proportions of air and gas are preserved whatever may be the quantity or volume of the mixture which is allowed to flow to the reservoir.

I .do not here claim the construction ofthe casing R and valve, as the same is claimed in a separate application for Letters Patent, and as differently-constructed devices may be employed for regulating the flow of air and gas to the reservoir without changing the proportions thereof. In the construction shown the valve T is controlled by the governor M, which revolves within the hollow bed-plate, and the movable sleeve K of which extends through the bed-plate, and is provided with an annular groove receiving a stud upon the side of an arm, U, on a shaft, N turning in brackets N N, and carrying at oneend an arm, U, connected to the valve T. the governor preserves it from injury, and avoids waste of room and the necessity of extended connections between the governor and valve.

It will be palpable that other means than those described may be employed for varying the; pressure in the charge-reservoir according to the work to be done. By adjusting the nut n, the load upon the valve I may be increased or decreased; but after the adj ustment is once made the engine will work with a uniform action so long as the pressure within the reservoir does not vary.

\Vhile the reservoir X may be'of any desired capacity, I prefer to limit its capacity to about, double that of the pump end of the This arrangement of cylinder, as I thereby avoid the storage of a come thoroughly mixed. In some situations 7 it isnot possible to obtain a sufficient supply cylinder, sothat the gases have time to beof water to permit its discharge after flowing through the cylinder. At the same time it is so hot that it cannot serviceably be carried the second time through the cylinder. I therefore combine with the cylinder a pump for lifting the discharge-water to an elevated tank, and provide means for causing the flow of the water over extended surfaces, so that it will be cooled by the air before passing a second time to the cylinder.

I do not limit myself to the construction of the governor shown, as automatic governing or controlling appliances of different kinds may be used to effect the same purpose.

Different means for effecting this result may be employed. Thus the inlet-pipe Q may communicate with the chamber of a pump, Q, and the outletpipe Q may extend over a tank, Q, which communicates through a pipe, Q, with the inlet-port of the pump Q, the latter being provided with check-valves 18 19, and with a plunger, 20, connected to an arm upon the slide or cross-head 21 of the engine. In the tank Q is arranged a series of plates, 2-, in such manner that the Water flowing into the tank will be spread in thin sheets over the same as it descends to the bottom of the tank, and will thus be brought in contact with the air and cooled. It is of advantage to take the outflowing water from the top of the cylinder, inasmuch as the water is hottest at this point and will therefore tend to circulate upward from the cylinder, its movement being thereby facilitated.

Vithout limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts described and shown, I claim- 1. The combination, with the power cylinder and piston, and with a chamber or reservoir of greater capacity than the cylinder, of a valve operated by the pressure of the fluid arranged between the cylinder and reservoir, and pipes for supplying the reservoir with an explosive mixture, and a governor and valve whereby the pressure of the mixture in the reservoir is automatically varied during the operation of the engine according to the work to be done, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the power cylin der and piston, reservoir, connecting-passage, loaded valve in said passage, and gas and air supply pipe or pipes, of a pump connected to force an explosive mixture of the air and gas into the reservoir under pressure, and a governor and valve, substantially as described, for automatically varying the supply of gas and air to the reservoir according to the work to be done, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the power cylinder and piston, reservoir, connecting-passage, and loaded valve therein, pump,and governor, and air and gas inlets, of a valve controlling the flow of air and gas to the reservoir and connected to be operated by the'governor, sub stantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the power cylinder and piston,reservoir communicating therewith, loaded valve, pump, gas and air inlets, and governor, of a valve connected to be controlled by said governor and constructed to regulate the flow of the gas and air to the reservoir, without varying the relative proportions thereof, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the power cylinder and piston, reservoir communicating with the cylinder, pump, gas and air inlet, and governor and valve,substantially as described, for regulating the admission of gas and air to the reservoir according to the work to be done, of a valve in the passage between the cylinder and reservoir, and means for varying the load upon said valve, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the power cylin der and piston, of a pump, gas and air inlets, and reservoir communicating freely with the pump to insure a churning or mixing action of the pump upon the gases, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of the power cylinder and piston,inlet provided with a valve, reservoir having an inlet for the gas and air, and pumps communicating freely with the reservoir between the inlet and discharge ports, substantially as described.

8. The combination of the power cylinder and piston, reservoir communicating with the cylinder through a channel provided with a loaded valve, and pump whereby the gas and air are introduced into the reservoir, the inlet for the gas and air being at the end of the reservoir opposite to that at which the loaded valve is situated, substantially as described.

9. The combination of the power cylinder and piston, reservoir, loaded valve in a channel between the reservoir and cylinder, inlet-portcommunicating with the reservoir, and pump communicating with the reservoir through an unobstructed passage arranged between theinlet-port and theloaded valve, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with the power-cylinder provided with a surrounding waterjacket, of water inlet and outlet pipes c01n municating with said jacket and leading to an elevated tank, water-distributing appliances within said tank, and a circulatingpump whereby the water is forced to circulate through the water jacket, pipes, and tank, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with the power-cylinder, piston, water-jacket, tank, and circulating-pump, of a pipe connecting the lower portion of the tank and the water-jacket, and a separate outflow-pipe connected with the upper portion of the water-jacket, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Vl itnesses: CYRUS XV. BALDlVIN.

G. R. KEYEs, M. S. Knvns.

LO O 

